News and Announcements

Inventor R11 SP2 Release Satisfies Customer Demand
Inventor Series 11 and Inventor Professional Service Pack 2
AutoCAD Mechanical 2007 Service Pack 1
Welcome to the Manufacturing Community

Ideate, Inc. Authorized to Expand Technical Support to Autodesk Subscription Customers
San Francisco, CA. October 2, 2006 – Ideate, Inc. today announced that it has become authorized to sell and deliver Autodesk® Subscription Gold Support, a service that provides consistent, reliable access to quality support from highly skilled technical experts with a broad range of experience in architecture, civil engineering, and manufacturing.

Ideate, Inc. will offer customers the following Autodesk Subscription Gold Support benefits: 

• Toll-free telephone support Monday-Friday during normal business hours 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. PST
• Direct access to qualified technicians with target three-minute maximum hold time
• Target two-hour maximum response time
• Up to four named callers
• Local language support

“We are excited to join forces with Ideate, Inc. to provide to our joint customers the highest level of technical support. Ideate has been authorized to do this only after agreeing to meet defined Autodesk criteria,” said Taylor Pohlman, Vice President of Worldwide Product Support at Autodesk. “Along with Ideate our overall objective is to improve customer satisfaction and to provide a new standard in service excellence.”

As part of this new authorization, Ideate was required by Autodesk to meet personnel, facility, performance, and infrastructure criteria consistent with industry best practices in technical support.  “Receiving the correct answer in a timely manner from someone who knows your business is what Ideate Support has always been about,” said Glynnis Patterson, Director of Services Development at Ideate.  “Autodesk Gold takes this same standard to the next level by defining a unparalleled level of service quality for our customers.”

About Ideate, Inc.
Ideate, Inc., a leading Autodesk® Value Added Reseller in Northern California, provides companies in the areas of building, manufacturing, and infrastructure with Autodesk software, implementation services, training, and support.  Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Ideate is recognized as an Autodesk® Premier Solutions Provider (PSP) - Architectural Specialist, Autodesk's highest level of authorization. Employing top architects, mechanical engineers, and civil engineers, Ideate offers its partners premium services to ensure their maximum productivity and return on investment. 

Ideate operates four Autodesk® Authorized Training Centers on the West Coast including San Francisco, CA; Sacramento, CA; Santa Clara, CA; and Portland, OR. For more information about Ideate, Inc. please visit our website at www.ideateinc.com.

About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is a Fortune 1000 company, wholly focused on ensuring that great ideas are turned into reality. With seven million users, Autodesk is the world's leading software and services company for the manufacturing, infrastructure, building, media and entertainment, and wireless data services fields. Autodesk’s solutions help customers create, manage and share their data and digital assets more effectively. As a result, customers turn ideas into competitive advantage, become more productive, streamline project efficiency and maximize profits.

Founded in 1982, Autodesk is headquartered in San Rafael, California. For additional information about Autodesk, please visit www.autodesk.com.

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Ideate, Inc. Achieves Autodesk Premier Solutions Provider Status
Recognized for Expertise in Manufacturing Solutions Selling

Santa Clara, CA, November 2, 2006 – Ideate, Inc. today announced their designation as Autodesk Premier Solutions Provider (PSP), Manufacturing Specialist in their Santa Clara, CA location. PSPs comprise an elevated level of the Autodesk Value Added Reseller program, which incorporates Autodesk software solutions along with proven and measurable technical expertise in a specific industry or unique business. PSPs provide their customers with full solutions from pre- and post-sales support, to training, implementation, and customization.  They work closely with Autodesk to help customers realize their ideas, increase operational efficiencies and maximize their return on investment in Autodesk software solutions.

 “Premier Solutions Providers understand that a healthy business is achieved through the success of their customers,” said Steve Blum, vice president of Americas Sales at Autodesk. ”Ideate, Inc. has raised the bar by developing a deep understanding of their customers’ business, pain points, and goals. They also have a solid understanding of solution selling and implementation.”

Autodesk considers those chosen for PSP status to be experts at implementing the Autodesk Solutions of a particular product division or customer type. To qualify for Autodesk PSP status, a VAR must demonstrate technical and industry expertise that includes a strong knowledge of customers’ business needs in the areas of Building Architecture, Building Engineering, Building Structure, Civil Engineering, Geospatial, Manufacturing, Data Management, Collaboration, Education, or Government. Each qualified PSP has demonstrated the ability to meet rigorous sales, personnel, and customer service measurements, and proven customer references and testimonials to support their level of expertise and commitment to customer success. 

About Ideate, Inc.
Ideate, Inc., a leading Autodesk® Value Added Reseller in Northern California, provides companies in the areas of building, manufacturing, and infrastructure with Autodesk software, implementation services, training, and support.  Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Ideate is recognized as an Autodesk® Premier Solutions Provider (PSP) - Architectural Specialist, Autodesk's highest level of authorization. Employing top architects, mechanical engineers, and civil engineers, Ideate offers its partners premium services to ensure their maximum productivity and return on investment. 

Ideate operates four Autodesk® Authorized Training Centers on the West Coast including San Francisco, CA; Sacramento, CA; Santa Clara, CA; and Portland, OR.  For more information about Ideate, Inc. please visit our website at www.ideateinc.com.

About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is a Fortune 1000 company, wholly focused on ensuring that great ideas are turned into reality. With seven million users, Autodesk is the world's leading software and services company for the manufacturing, infrastructure, building, media and entertainment, and wireless data services fields. Autodesk’s solutions help customers create, manage and share their data and digital assets more effectively.  As a result, customers turn ideas into competitive advantage, become more productive, streamline project efficiency and maximize profits.

Founded in 1982, Autodesk is headquartered in San Rafael, California.  For additional information about Autodesk, please visit www.autodesk.com.

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Ideate, Inc. Gold Co-Host Sponsor of Autodesk University 2006: November 28 – December 1, 2006
The Venetian Resort Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

Ideate, Inc. is among a select group of value added resellers to be accepted as a Gold Co-Host Sponsor at Autodesk University 2006 in Las Vegas, NV. As a Gold Sponsor, Ideate will have a significant presence at the annual four day event, including a Meet and Greet reception on Wednesday, November 29th from 11:30am – 1pm in room Zeno 4709. Come by our Help Desk at AU for details.

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Inventor R11 SP2 Release Satisfies Customer Demand
You spoke, we listened. The Inventor community spoke forcefully over the summer about several key functions in R11 that weren’t meeting expectations, so we accelerated the release of SP2. Using comments from the Inventor News Groups, our Product Support team, CERs, and from our AEs and channel partners, we chose to focus on several key areas:

• Content Center performance and quality
• Assembly modeling
• Sheet metal
• Vault interactions

Overall 482 issues, including 70 CERs, were addressed. In addition to releasing the service pack to the web, all new shipments (once inventory is exhausted) of Inventor will include SP2 – so new users will not have to download and install the service packs separately.

Read on for details of a few of the more significant improvements and the very positive customer reactions.

Content Center Improvements
The content center is a powerful tool for managing industry standard content and allowing customers to add their own parts as needed. Unfortunately, performance issues were interfering with the users’ ability to leverage this useful functionality effectively. It was also affecting the usability of the Design Accelerators and Tube and Pipe functionality. The chart below illustrates some of the significant improvements:

• Over 300% improvement in time required to launch the Content Center browser 
• Over 500% improvement in the speed of browsing through the content
• Over 200% improvement in time required to place selected content
• Up to 30x improvements in the time required to filter the content by standard

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Ideate Inc., 44 Montgomery Street Suite 1000, San Francisco, CA 94104
tel: 888.662.7238 fax: 800.214.1838
www.ideateinc.com